


people are hustling (passing me by)

by Falling_Rhayne



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pre-Canon, Caduceus-centric, Character Study, Gen, Introspection, Originally Posted on Tumblr, caduceus appreciation week 2020, caduceus clay character study, caduceus has middle child syndrome, caduceus week 2020, clay family dynamics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:15:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25646413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Falling_Rhayne/pseuds/Falling_Rhayne
Summary: There is an art to being the middle child. It involves keeping the balance between dependable and unobtrusive: there when Mother needs assistance with the laundry, and gone when Father arrives with a funeral party. It involves knowing what needs to be done without being told, yet accomplishing it in a way that doesn't call attention. With all eyes on the youngest and the eldest, it falls on the middle child to slip through the cracks.Caduceus Clay is one such middle child.
Comments: 9
Kudos: 76





	people are hustling (passing me by)

**Author's Note:**

> For [Caduceus Appreciation Week](https://falling-rhayne.tumblr.com/post/624522806347120640/caduceus-appreciation-week) over on Tumblr. Only had the energy to make this one, so I'm making it count.
> 
> Title is from ["Blade of Gras"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADSijJeO3E0) by Asylum Street Spankers. It's in Cad's first playlist & I thought fit _perfectly_ in this narrative.
> 
> * * *
> 
> **Saturday July 25th | Flowering/Blooming Tea**
> 
> _“A bundle of dried tea leaves wrapped around one or more dried flowers. These are made by binding tea leaves and flowers together into a bulb, then setting them to dry. When steeped, the bundle expands and unfurls in a process that emulates a blooming flower, and the flowers inside emerge as the centerpiece. Typically they are sourced from the Yunnan province of China. Flowers commonly used in flowering teas include globe amaranth, chrysanthemum, jasmine, lily, hibiscus, and osmanthus.”_
> 
> Caduceus was raised in the Blooming Grove, and spent ten years alone there after his family left. Explore Caduceus growing up, his time alone, or returning home.

* * *

* * *

  
There is an art to being the middle child. It involves keeping the balance between dependable and unobtrusive: there when Mother needs assistance with the laundry, and gone when Father arrives with a funeral party. It involves knowing what needs to be done without being told, yet accomplishing it in a way that doesn't call attention. With all eyes on the youngest and the eldest, it falls on the middle child to slip through the cracks.

  
Caduceus Clay is one such middle child.

  
Unlike his brother and sisters, Caduceus isn't adventurous by any means. He's content with following after his Mother, hovering beside her as she prepares their meals. He watches as Constance sprinkles fresh herbs into a pot of bubbling soup, adding in mushrooms picked right from the graves that dotted the Blooming Grove. She scoops some into a cup, just for him, offering it to him with a smile and a wink.

  
"How is it, lichen?" Constance asks fondly, his nickname always sounding better when it fell from her lips. Caduceus takes the warm cup from her, reaching out with hands grubby from picking flowers off graves, blowing at the wisp of steam rising from its contents.

  
Cup cradled close to his chest, Caduceus takes one cautious sip. The broth is warm on his tongue, pleasantly rich and earthy, with a hint of a spice he can't quite name. He takes another sip, bigger this time, warmth flowing through his throat to settle comfortably in his stomach.

  
"It's earthy," Caduceus says after a moment, handing the cup back to his Mother. "And a bit spicy. I like it."

  
"I'm glad you do." Constance smiles, turning back to her work. "Now go wash your hands. Dinner's almost ready."

  
Caduceus nods. He makes his way outside the house, to a little well just off the door to their kitchen. He washes the mud off his hands, pouring the used water over the little plants growing all around him. He goes back to the kitchen, and without ever being told, sets the table for dinner.

  
One by one his family takes up their places around the table. His Father Cornelius sitting at the head, his older brother Colton sitting to his right, talking jovially about their time spent out in the nearby town. His Aunt Corrin sits at the other end, flanked by his sisters Calliope and Clarabelle, talking over each other as they regale their Aunt with their little adventure into the Savalirwood. Caduceus sits last, helping his Mother bring their dinner to the table, settling himself beside her as she sits to his Father's left.

  
Dinner starts with a prayer to The Wildmother, and though Caduceus has never seen Her, he knows She watches over them, just as they watch over her Grove.   


* * *

A middle child is dependable yet unobtrusive. Caduceus knows this, knows it better than anyone, and yet he can't help the twist of pain in his gut as his Aunt and Mother walk away from their sacred Grove. He wants to call out to them, beg for them to say, convince them they didn't need to go.

  
But they do need to.

  
Caduceus understands.

  
There was unrest in the Blooming Grove. The Savalirwood crept ever closer, leaving corruption in its wake. They had lost the outer wall two Seasons ago, and though they did what they could to keep the woods at bay, there was no stopping its continued march towards their Temple.

  
Caduceus had been there, when Corrin had reached out to The Wildmother. He heard what the Goddess had said to her, knew what they had to do. He had accepted it, just like everyone else, and had bid his Father and Calliope goodbye as they left on their quest.

  
Caduceus never thought they wouldn't come back.

  
"Dry your tears, lichen," His Mother's soft voice interrupts his thoughts, the palm of her hand rough on his cheek. "We'll be back in no time, you'll see."

  
Caduceus nods, wiping his face with the edge of a sleeve. Next to him Colton stands tall, holding his head high, the hand on Caduceus' shoulder trembling slightly. Clarabelle presses herself against his side, openly weeping into his shirt, soaking it with her tears.

  
"Take care of the Grove for us, okay?" Constance pats his head, turning to do the same to Clarabelle and Colton. She hikes her pack up her shoulder, walking back to where Corrin patiently waits by the gates.

  
"We'll bring your Father and Calliope back." Corrin promises them. "You three be safe."

  
"May Melora watch over you." Colton says, head bowed slightly. Clarabelle mumbles her own farewell, head buried against Caduceus' side, her hand tightly gripping his. Caduceus merely waves his hand, silently promising them he'd care for the grove and for his siblings to the best of his ability.

  
Caduceus watches them go, a tiny bit of him leaving with them.

* * *

A middle child knows what needs to be done without being told. With the changing of Seasons the Savalirwood draws closer, claiming another wall in its conquest over the Blooming Grove. Time moves ever forward, and without any of their family ever returning, Colton and Clarabelle eventually set out on their own journey.

  
Caduceus stands by the gate as their figures start to disappear into the woods. Clarabelle turns to look back at him with a cheery wave, and Caduceus smiles despite knowing she could no longer see him. He whispers a prayer to the Wildmother, asking Her to watch over his littlest sister, making sure she doesn't get into trouble.

  
Left alone in the Blooming Grove, Caduceus Clay waits.

  
He waits and does what needs to be done, despite there being nobody left with him. He attends to the families that come to him for funeral rites, honoring the bodies of their dead while he talks the living through their grief. He leaves only to get supplies, making trips to the nearby town of Shady Creek Run, never staying longer than an afternoon. He cooks, and gardens, and makes wonderful tea from whatever grows out of the ground of graves.

  
The Seasons continue to pass him by, and with every Winter spent waiting on word from his family, Caduceus grows wary. He spends his mornings in meditation, his nights in prayer, constantly communicating with The Wildmother and asking what it is She wants from him.

  
A middle child knows what needs to be done without being told, but Caduceus Clay isn't so sure he knows what's needed anymore.

  
And so he waits.

  
He waits.

  
He sits with a kettle and a pot of fresh tea, hoping that one day someone might come along and find him. Maybe then he can figure out what it is that he needs to do.

* * *

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> This is my love letter to Caduceus Clay. I've loved him the moment The Mighty Nein met him, and I've continued to fall in love with him the more time we spend with him. His energy is so different from the energies of the other Nein, but he's not any less interesting because of it.
> 
> This is an extremely personal piece I wrote in under 24 hours because of _feelings_. Hope this fic makes y'all fall in love with Caduceus Clay a lil more too. ^_^
> 
> **[TUMBLR](https://falling-rhayne.tumblr.com/)** || **[TWITTER](https://twitter.com/falling_rhayne)**


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